LINCE DORADO (w/Gran Metalik & Kalisto) vs. HIDEO ITAMI (w/Akira Tozawa)- 5/10
They had a good match that ended in a DQ when Gran Metlik shoved Itami. Tempers were boiling over at the end once again, with Kalisto and Tozawa being the level-headed ones on their respective teams.

DREW GULAK VIDEO PACKAGE- good

TJP vs. KENNETH JOHNSON- no rating, good segment
TJP basically squashed the guy, then kept the TJP Clutch locked in way longer than necessary.

MUSTAFA ALI VIDEO PACKAGE- not going to lie to you; as soon as I heard the phrase “activist speaking for change,” I was immediately turned off. That’s a phrase I watch wrestling to get away from. I didn’t have a problem with the overall message, but that particular phrase just grates me like few others one might here in pro wrestling. Other than that, this was good.

DRAKE MAVERICK ADDRESSES THE FINISH OF THE OPENER- I liked it. He is rewarding Kalisto and Tozawa for keeping their cool, plus TJP for winning by putting them in a #1 contendership match next week. And also Buddy Murphy is randomly in the match. That part I didn’t like.

WWE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: Drew Gulak vs. Mustafa Ali- 8.5/10
The match was more of a brawl than I was expecting, but it wasn’t your typical brawl, either. Gulak did some of the more traditional brawling things, but with an attitude that made them feel slightly different, while Ali used more of a high-flying-inspired brawling style where he was mostly throwing his body at his opponent. That backdrop off the table looked painful as hell.
That being said, while they were better at constantly breaking the count than you get in other promotions, these two definitely should have been counted out at least once.

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Ali won, which I don’t have a problem with, but I think that Ali is in a place where he pretty much has to win at Mania, whereas Cedric, with his previous failings, has some options open to him revolving around him losing “yet again.” And, personally, I think that Cedric’s personal story needs more focus before he wins the big one, which it hasn’t had during this tournament, so Ali winning is definitely the right call.
That being said, if Ali is going to win the belt at Mania, I would have put Roddy over Cedric. Losing in the semifinals almost works better than losing in the finals for a Cedric story (as it is one step farther than he got in the Cruiserweight Classic, so next time he can get one step closer yet again), and I think that Roddy’s hard-chopping and backbreaker-based offense will make for a much better match with Ali’s high-flying, great facial-selling babyface style.